Jeremy Hellickson threw a complete game yesterday giving up one earned run. Great, tremendous, gremendous! Hey, Rays, take out an ad in Variety for Hellickson for Rookie of the Year. The ad can flaunt a quote from Rays beat writer Roger Mooney saying, “Hellickson is the best rookie pitcher I’ve ever seen!” Rays blogger Jason Collette says, “He’s better than Melissa Leo!” A Tampa Bay area Hooters waitress, “And he’s a good tipper!” Last year, Hellickson threw a 155 2/3 innings. Usual bump from one year to the next for young pitchers is 30 innings. Back in the preseason, Buddy Holly Joe Maddon said Hellickson would be capped at 180 innings. That’s probably give or take five innings. Depending on whether or not Verducci shows up at Hellickson’s final start with disapproving eyes. Right now, Hellickson is sitting at 164 1/3 innings. Probably looking at three more starts for Hellickson. Make sure you keep that in mind in H2H leagues. Oh, and have a good Labor Day. I’ll leave you with this quote, “You’re laborers. You should be laboring. That’s what you get for not having an education.” Anyway, here’s what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:

Francisco Liriano – Unlikely to pitch again this year. If only this news came out in March.

Joe Mauer – 1-for-2 with his 2nd homer. Put a note on the Comatose Twins Fan to ‘Do Not Resuscitate.’

Dustin Ackley – 2-for-4 with his 6th homer. He’s also hitting .400 over the week. The Mariners have good reason to be excited, but that’s mostly because The Big FraGu is out for the year. So much easier than diverting one’s eyes.

Jose Bautista – First to reach 40 homers. I’ll say my miss on Bautista this year was the ultimate Mr. Bungle move.

Derek Jeter – 2-for-5 with his fifth homer of the year. Or the sixth lowest homer total of all players with a full season of at-bats. He’s tied with Maicer Izturis, but Maicer has almost a hundred less ABs. Jeter reminds me of something. You’ll never sleep with as many women as you’d like to? No, random italicized voice. He reminds how terrible name recognition can be for fantasy baseball.

Alex Rodriguez – Returned over the weekend and hit a homer yesterday. That’s his 15th homer this year, or how many times he’s openly begged Jeter for his approval.

Ian Kinsler – 3-for-5 with his 25th homer. Was also his fourth homer in the past 4 games and has 23 steals on the year with only 2 caught stealings. Sure, the average (.245) is a bit blehtastic, but that could easily be at .270 as he continues to prove the Ranger hitters credo, “If healthy, good.” So it’s not the snappiest credo, but it’s accurate.

Nelson Cruz – Says he can get back prior to the estimated three weeks. Cool, that means he can get another injury in before the end of the year. Take odds, Vegas. Take odds.

Mike Napoli – 2-for-3 with his 23rd homer as he hits .293. Imagine he didn’t go through stretches where his manager temporarily benches him because Napoli’s hitting on their daughter.

Dee Gordon – 3-for-5 with his third steal in the three games since he returned. Mouth on the left side of the screen says, SAG. Mouth on the right side of the screen says, NOF. They come together for SAGNOF.

Randall Delgado – 5 IP, 3 ER, 7 baserunners, 4 Ks. Took over Jar-Jar’s spot in the rotation and meesa tinks he’ll stay in the rotation for the better part of the rotation. He’s still a rookie that could give a solid six inning start, a four inning/four earned run turd or something in the middle like today. In other words, he’s a’ight for NL-Only leagues. In other other words, last week I was in my other other Benz.

Johan Santana – News has changed once again for Johan. First, he’s coming back in June. Then he’s coming back in July. Wait, he’ll be back, definitely, in August. Nope, he’s not returning. Yes, he’ll be back next week. Or the final week of the season. Or not at all. Whatever the Mets say, he’s not worth owning anyway.

Mike Stanton – Left the game with a hamstring injury. He’s day-to-day. If everyone wants to sign a card and have me deliver it to him, I’m hiding in the bushes next to his garage. I mean, get well soon, Mike. I mean… No, that’s what I meant. *nervous laughter*

Hanley Ramirez – Has been confirmed that he will have shoulder surgery. With some hard work and a dedication to being the best, he’ll be ready to go for the start of next season. So, he won’t be ready. I’m going to gauge things further this offseason, but I’m almost certainly not going anywhere near him next year. I try to stay away from players coming off big surgeries, unless I feel like the injury wasn’t something that could linger. You know, like Morneau this year. Now I’m done with all players coming off a major injury/surgery. Show me one player who overperformed coming off a major injury and I’ll show you 25 that didn’t.

Jon Jay – Homered yesterday and 6 for his last 11. He also expressed his pride for the way the original thirteen colonies bounced back from Hurricane Irene.

Jason Motte – On Saturday, he recorded the save, then on Sunday Salas gave up a run and lost the game. If you’re a save vulture circling around for some tasty meat to feed on, I’d peck on Motte.

Torii Hunter – Says he might retire after the 2012 season. This is neither funny nor interesting (which is implying other things I write are, but anyway…), Hunter will almost certainly have a job at a major network as an analyst.

Juan Francisco – 4-for-5 yesterday and homered on Friday. He’s now started three of four games since he was recalled. Not mixed league worthy yet, but I got my pet marmoset watching him closely. I only have so much time.

Sean Marshall – Notched his fourth save as Marmol sat on the bench and thought about what he had done on Saturday. Ya know, give up a grand slam to Derrek Lee. Marmol’s still probably the closer, if only to frustrate Cubs fans and his fantasy owners.

Brian Wilson – Threw off the mound on Sunday, but there’s no timetable for his return. The Giants could opt to shut down Wilson if they fall out of the race, but he seems like the type that would want to return even if the Giants’ playoff chances are remote. Though I might have a facial hair basis.

Anthony Rizzo – 0-for-3 as he was recalled, with recall being the optimal word considering how he’s played thus far. I’d be shocked if the Padres don’t find a way to get Jesus Guzman’s bat in the lineup on a consistent basis since he’s batting .337. Even if the Padres just Mad Lib first base on the lineup card, Blanks will probably be filled in the most with Rizzo’s promotion.

Dexter Fowler – 3-for-4, now hitting near .350 over the last week with two homers and two steals. Right now, Dexter is murdering the ball.

Shaun Marcum – 7 IP, 0 ER, 2 baserunners (1 Hit), 8 Ks vs. the Astros. Crazy the lineup of Jordan Schafer, Paredes, Martinez, Bogus..etc. didn’t give him a harder time. The team Ed Wade’s Toupee put together would have a hard time beating the Little League Champions two out of three games.

Neil Walker – 1-for-4 with his 12th homer. Member when he was good? In like April. Ah, yeah, good times.

Alex Presley – 2-for-5 with a steal. Now 10 for his last 18 with a homer and two steals. He’s been so hot Pirate cameramen have been asked to only film him from the waist up.

Anibal Sanchez – 6 IP, 0 ER, 9 baserunners, 5 Ks. Due to an umpire call, the game is under review. A fan interfered with a Pence double, which was overturned with instant replay. Charlie Manuel then argued that there’s no such cotton-pickin’ thing as instant replay and the moon is made of green cheese. We’ll await the MLB’s Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations Joe Torre’s decision. I’d say it’s pretty likely the call is overturned and the game resumes with Torre’s final verdict being, “Hey, whatever gets more middle relievers in the game.”

Now for the last two guys, I have a lot of choices:
Zack Grienke
Adam Jones
Pablo Sandoval
Brett Lawrie
Eric Hosmer
Shin Soo Choo
Brandon Beachy

Which two guys do you like the best. My opinion switches everyday, and I really don’t want to make the wrong decision. (Im leaning towards Grienke and Brett Lawrie, but that could change by the end of Wednesday)

Pick 2 outta these 4 for my C and Util spots this week (needing RBIs and OBP mainly): Wieters, Avila, G Sanchez, Lind. Been trying to play the hot hand recently and been getting burned by it! Think I need to choose 2 and stick with them right?

I’ve been using Jed Lowrie as a plugin in my infield, when another player’s team isn’t playing or he has a disadvantageous matchup. But with Youk coming back, it seems like Lowrie’s PT will be reduced. Do you think that’s correct? And, if so, is Lowrie still the best option for that role, or am I better off with M Izturis, Plouffe, Wilson Valdez, or Keppinger?

I’m in decent shape with both speed and power (I have a slightly larger need for power). Mostly, I just don’t want to take an 0-for-0 (or worse, an 0-for-5) in an infield spot.

Its a K/9 league and Its always tough for me to sit him since I know the K’s will always be there,but I really want someone to talk me out of starting him,especially w/ the Tigers coming off scoring 18 runs.

What do I do with Chacin? Hold? Drop? The walks are becoming intolerable and the injury is really making me contemplate it. If/when he comes back, will he be effective or would I be better off getting spot starts from waiver wire guys?

Hellickson pitched a nearly perfect game for my RCL team, meaning that two (1 HR, 1 2B) of the four hits he gave up were to Adam Jones, who is on my team. The only thing that was missing were the Ks. It’s a shame if you can’t record at least 3 K when you are playing a team with Mini Donkey.

Grey, I wanted to say thanks for running an awesome site. You’ve helped me out a ton in my leagues this year. The humor, puns, and incredibly (usually) spot on advice make this easily the best fantasy baseball site around. You helped me get to 2nd (and a 1st round bye) in my 16 Team H2H, and it’s still up in the air in my other league as to 1st or 2nd going into the playoffs.

So again, thank you.

And I do have one question: is Utley droppable in an 8 Team H2H league? I know this seems rough, but he’s awful. And I’ve got Kendrick playing much better. Or just hold and see if he turns it around?

@Eddy: Our league is screwed up as well, in fact I was checking here to see if anyone else had problems. Has the wrong team in the 6th playoff spot, which as the commisioner, has led to me fielding a gazillion texts this morning. Hope they figure it out before the games start…

Grey: 14 team points league- Butler, Fowler or the recuperating but yawnstipating Youk?

More important- need to pick 2 SP from this list o 5

Pineda vs KC leader in the clubhouse
McCarthy at TEX feels insane, but the numbers don’t lie
Minor at Mets- first of a twinbill- diluted lineup?
Surkamp at SD- i don’t even know what i’m getting into here
Bedard at TB- sure hasn’t looked like a pitcher since becoming a sawx

Kemp and Fielder it is then. Thanks for the advice. I’m in a 16-team league where pitchers are heavily kept and drafted very early, a strategy I have ignored (thanks to grey mostly, especially for talking me out of Wainright). This year I waited until round 8 to grab my first pitcher (Brett Anderson!) and here I am, sittin’ in 3rd.

I’m currently in 2nd place in my primary league, its 5×5 with shallow (3 spot) benches and I have 92 points. The leader has 105 points, but he’s also WAY ahead of pace in games played at a number of positions. I figure he’s conservatively actually minus 5 points his current pace, still ahead of me, but more reasonably in reach. I also figure I can make up 2-3 points in SB with a savvy speed pickup, but my problem is I’m not sure who I can drop. I’ve held onto Jason Heyward this long, but now he’s not even playing every day. I would hate to drop him and see him go on a 6 HR, 3 SB tear, but I’m 1st in HR and don’t think I’ll be losing ground there. The other option is Mike Carp. I can make up some ground in RBI, so the HR aren’t irrelevant, but in and of themselves I don’t need them. Would you drop Heyward to pick up someone like Will Venable or Jordan Schafer? How about drop Mike Carp, who has nosedived a bit, has some shaky peripheral numbers, and is more likely to provide HR than RBI in that lineup?

My only worry about dropping Heyward is that he gets claimed on Waivers and help someone else make up enough ground to push me back to 3rd or 4th if I also get a little unlucky, but I also think I’m more likely to finish 1st if I hold Carp and pickup a speedster in favor of Heyward.

so , in my h2h , my choices come down to polanco or j.lopez , ‘cuz of
the 2b/3b flexibility , and wanting to take advantage of the make-up
double-header on the 15th and the full week’s schedule .

been wrestling with this since last night .
even though the choice of polanco might seem obvious , (more guaranteed
playing time) , am worried about his sports hernia … and he’s been sucky at
the plate , recently .

Would you drop Arencibia for Jesus Montero? Would you drop Jennings for Fowler? Would you drop Billingsley for Capuano, Sosa, Norris, or Hochevar? Is Jurrjens rosterable anymore? Sorry for the multiple questions.

Thanks, yeah I did that…well I picked up Schafer for now because the Pads are facing lefties the next two days, so I’ll probably swap Schafer out for Venable tomorrow or Wednesday so I can fill an extra slot Thursday, unless someone picks him up (though I doubt anyone will). Honestly, overall I don’t see a huge difference. Venable has a bit more pop, but that gets muted by his ballpark while the opposite is true for Schafer–I don’t expect any more than 0-2 HR from either. They’re both in crappy lineups and may sit against tough lefties. I like Venable slightly more in a vacuum, but Schafer is a safer bet to play every day as the Pads outfield is a bit more crowded and Schafer’s been hitting better lately. They both have around league average walk rates, but Schafer’s has been trending up. Venable strikes out more, Schafer also strikes out, but underneath Schafer actually has a very strong Contact% this year, so his Ks may be due to come down a bit. He quietly has a .405 OBP since the break with 7 SB in just 7 ABs. Methinks there’s some decent September-style upside here for a player trying to prove he can play every day next year.

Grey,earlier you told me to start Beltran and Crawford ahead of Morse,which I did.But at the last minute I decided to shuffle my lineup around and start Morse instead of Sandoval.Then,at the last minute I saw Beltran was out and so I got Sandoval into my lineup and I ended up getting 4 HR between 2 guys I came really close to benching.

Also,I grabbed Fister yesterday at the last minute and started him and his 13 beautiful K’s today.Oh,and its a K/9 league.

anyway,I should be happy but I get nervous when my week starts out this well,as if Ive shot my fantasy load or soemthing.

In case you haven’t checked it out yet, I recommend giving Thundercat a listen. I avoided it for a bit because the name and album cover gave me the impression that it wasn’t something I would like. I was wrong, though not as wrong as I was in thinking that starting Freddy Garcia was a good idea.

Remember how “terrible” of a year Albert Pujols was having, and how he was one of this draft’s biggest busts?

He’s on pace for .295-40-100 with 105 runs and 8 SB, though his BA, OBP, SLG (and OPS obviously) would all be career lows across the board. This is why IMO he should still be a top 2-3 pick next season — his worst is literally most guys’ best.